Friday, November 26, 2010

Black Friday in Greensboro

Today is Black Friday. Shopping for Christmas has officially begun, for some as early as three or four am! Specials and bargains abound. The term 'Black Friday' is said to have come into usage in 1966 in Philadelphia and spread to the population at large by 1975. The Merry Christmas snowman in the photo above was spotted in the window of the Saltbox, a fine State Street store for folk art, Colonial lighting, hand poured candles, and more. The Saltbox was established in 1974, about the time the term 'Black Friday' became nationally known, at least with meaning the day retailers began making a profit-- or being in the black.

If you look closely, you can see a Skywatch Friday blue sky peeking through in the upper corners of this window shot. The sky was mostly blocked out by the sleeve of my blazer blocking the glare. Hey Frosty, watch out for doorbusters! The shopping madness has begun! Day-after-Thanksgiving shopping could be another fun activity for the family-- or not!

I long ago decided there is nothing I want or need in the stores to justify getting up in the middle of the night! It would seem the American people are easily conned. Which is rather scary.

Thanks for your comment on Florida Fotos. When you asked how to preserve old Florida, I was thinking, "Well, just give me another vodka martini," but then I realized you weren't talking about me and old folks like me, you were talking about the state's flora (and fauna?)...

Speaking of the latter, a 700-lb black bear meandered into an Orlando backyard the other day; nibbled on some grass while laying in the sun, and then waddled back off into the woods.

Good Afternoon! For the last few years I have found no urge to schlep out in the early morning cold and dark to buy things as they say in Lethal Weapon"I'm too old for this sh**" !
That is a wonderfully creepy snowman face in the window. I find him both inviting and chilling in more than a snowy sort of way! He looks to be from one of those patterns you could order in the back pages of Popular Mechanics and Popular Science in the 1940s and 50s.
We had a chilly(for here in So Cal ) Thanksgiving night in the low 30s, I thought of those shoppers as I heard my neighbors leave around 3am ,yep I thought about them from beneath my warm cozy pile of blankies!